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Wacom Cintiq 13HD; is the upgrade worth it? Is the iPad Pro a worthy contender?

I've had my Intuos 4 (M) for 8 years now (and before that, a cheap Genius tablet for 2-ish years) & I'm still not feeling very comfortable with drawing on a slate (for lack of a better word). My hand-eye coordination is horrid with the Intuos, but maybe that's because I'm more comfortable with traditional art?

I've tried the iPad Pro and drawing on the screen felt so natural to me! I'm just worried about the software limitations & upgrades that would eventually slow it down.

The Cintiq 13HD looks & sounds amazing, apart from the cable issues that seem to plague it. I have the money for it but will it be money well spent? I'm hoping that by upgrading to a screen-based tablet (wrong terminology?) I'll dabble more into digital art because the 'slate' tablets put me off digital art for some time...

Would love to hear your thoughts & experiences on both the Cintiq & iPad Pro!

Devious Comments

I've used two Wacom drawing tablets, and eventually got the Cintiq 13HD, and, overall, the transition was marvelous and I love it! If you're used to using and configuring a screenless Wacom tablet, the 13HD fits like a glove.

I've had it for over a year now, and it's pretty great. Except, as you mentioned, the wiring is its biggest drawback. I think it's a device meant for a desk, because a set up where you're constantly moving it, like mine, is not good for it at all, and, from everything I've read up about it, there is no wireless accessory for it (because it requires a USB, Video, AND Power connection). I've had three consistent issues that revolve around its wiring:1. The screen loses interactivity where the pen stops working on it (mouse and apps work just fine). Turning it off and turning it back on seems to fix it.2. Weird RGB color distortion, where red or green artifacts appear on the screen. This seems to happen when I initially turn it on for a drawing session. Fiddling with the wire a bit seems to fix it.3. The screen loses the picture entirely and seems to disconnect from my PC. Again, fiddling with the wire seems to fix it. This happens more often when something bumps into the contact point of the wire.

These issues don't happen very often, but enough to where I'm compelled to find solutions to it before I have an accident with it.

I find it to be a pretty good device that feels quite natural to draw on, but make sure it's stationary and not prone to a lot of movement.

Thanks for your response. I'm still on the fence about the 13HD because it's almost the same price as an iPad...the 13HD is quite dated now as well..Portability is definitely something I'm looking at, so I've been looking at the Wacom Companion (is that what it's called?) but almost fainted when I saw the price...

Maybe in the distant future, when I'm better at digital art, I can invest in a Wacom. For now, it looks like I'm going for the iPad.

First of, I have never owned or tested Cintiq 13HD, did test the newer product yesterday at Comic Con like the Cintiq Pro 24 and new Intuos Pro. But I do own iPad Pro. So with that said. I would highly recommend an iPad Pro + Apple Pencil. Because its cheaper any monitor tablet from Wacom And you can find pretty good drawing apps for it, like my favorite Procreate. But you also have Affinity Photo/Designer, Sketchbook, Clip Studio Paint and probably more that I have no idea about. I do own an Intuos small, but my eye & hand coordination really sucks.Owned an alternative Wacom tablet from XP-Pen, but after drawing so much on my iPad, it just didn't feel fun to draw on it anymore.

So an iPad Pro is really good! Its easy to bring anywhere, you can get the DraftTable for it. (Love that thing!) And I have not noticed any bad things (yet). And I own the 2017 64GB version.

Thank you SO much for the detailed response, I'm leaning heavily towards the iPad Pro...now it's just a matter of screen size (is 12.9 too big?) & memory.I'm going to try them out in store, thanks again

I bought the 9.7" first, but I like to draw big so I sold it and bought 12,9" instead. And I prefer that size. Its not too big, it fits perfect in my Etchr bag (art bag). And I even have a STM Dux Plus cover on.